Iceland 2013 – Day 2 – Field bound

Now the rest of our team have arrived in Iceland, we began to make our way out to our field base in Hvolsvollur, after picking up our trusty steed, Marmaduke.

Travelling via a hardware store, world- [Iceland-] famous bakery and a supermarket to pick up provisions, as well as various tourist sites along the way for the few of us that were new to the island, we made our way to the Hotel Hvolsvollur, our base in the south for the next couple of weeks.

Upon arrival we found out that most our field equipment, which had been shipped separately, had met an unfortunate end at the hands of the authorities, with the hotel having to pay several thousand pounds worth of taxes… Oops.

Then came the most import part – food. Our field lab (when it arrived) would be set up in the chemistry classroom of the local school, but the kitchen at the school was also where we would be having our dinner. Everyone mucked in (with more than one argument in the kitchen arising), but eventually we had a rota of chefs for the week, and a hearty meal to toast our first night in Hvolsvollur with.

Tomorrow, we head out to two of our field sites at Fimmvörðuháls and Heimey.